UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Sustainable Communities Collaborative announces a partnership with the State College Borough that will engage students at University Park with the community in a pilot program that links community-based sustainability projects with existing courses across the University. Six projects will be addressed through five Collaboration Teams in this fall’s pilot; connecting a variety of government services with academic disciplines campus wide.

The fall projects are: Management of Human Capitol (Talent Acquisition), led by Tom Hogan; Biking in the Region (Reducing the Barriers to Cycling), led by Lori Francis, associate professor, Department of Biobehavioral Health; Storm Water Management (Visualizing the Potentials), led by associate professor Stuart Echols, Stuckeman School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Graphic Design; Sustainable Asset Management (Closed Loop Inventory and Surplus Goods) led by Felisa Preciado, clinical associate professor, Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems, Smeal College of Business; and Way-finding in Community Design and Planning (Reducing Auto Emissions) led by associate professor Mallika Bose, Stuckeman School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Graphic Design.

The Sustainable Communities Collaborative will join the Light Step, Right Step festival in downtown State College this year to publicly announce the partnership. Speakers Nancy Franklin of Penn State’s Sustainability Institute; Tom Hogan, professor of human resource management in the School of Labor and Employment Relations at Penn State; and State College Mayor Elizabeth Goreham; will discuss the collaboration. Students and faculty taking part in the projects will also be on hand to talk about their work with the borough.

The 2nd annual Light Step Right Step Festival’s theme this year is “Our Community, Our Water!” The Borough of State College, Clearwater Conservancy and the Water Resources Education Network are co-sponsoring the event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28.

Find out more about the Sustainable Communities Collaborative online. Get the full schedule of events and more information on the Light Step Right Step festival online.